LES LOKEY

Nurtured by coffehouse busking and poetry slams,  Les Lokey possesses a
visceral intensity  and immediacy that engage the listener drawing us into her
journey.  Her music delves into the deeply felt realms of our inner experience
and ranges from a whisper to a scream flavored with doses of humor and irony.

Lokey, born in  Mercedes,  Texas, ( the other side of the bay from Janis
Joplins hometown) ,  shares with her longtime heroine a love of the
traditional blues mamas like Bessie Smith and Etta James,  while infusing her
sound with the poetic imagery of  Dylan and  ee cummings.   Her lifes journeys
began in Texas but  life was continually on the move with stays in Haight
Ashbury,   Mexico,  Northern Africa and the American Southwest.      She
attended 23 different schools while growing up.   She gained her gypsy roots
early on and a keen eye for observation led to a note pad full of thoughts on
the human condition.

After several close brushes with breaking onto the national scene from such
disparate locales as Washington,  DC,   Santa Fe,   Minneapolis and Madison
she took up residence in Milwaukee in 1997,  where she promptly was awarded
with the WAMI award for Best New Artist.   In a chance meeting with Grammy
award winning bassist Joe Puerta they teamed up for some recordings in spring
of 1998.  These intitial efforts were rewarded with an invitation to appear at
the 1998 Woodstock,  “ A Day in the Garden”.    The success of these first
tracks led to the making of a complete CD
“ Burned Up and Shining”   the debut release for Firefly Records,    a new
label begun by Puerta and John  Young that is headquartered in Wauwatosa,
Wisconsin.

Lokey is both familiar and yet original.   Her music stands alone while
speaking for everyone.   Her artistry combines real experienceses coming from
a place that challenges the listener to wake up and feel.    As Les has said “
We are all trying to find balance,  trying to make sense out of a world that
doesn’t necessarily make sense.....I write these songs to myself and to
everyone else in an attempt to reconcile the extremes.”    We at Firefly feel
we have an extraordinary artistic work for our first release,  one that we are
extremely proud to be associated with.    Here it is.   Enjoy.